


Hot N' Cold

by mouseinthemidnight



Category: The Office (US)
Genre: F/M, Reader Insert, Ryan Howard - Freeform, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 12:07:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13247895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mouseinthemidnight/pseuds/mouseinthemidnight
Summary: The relationship you share with Ryan has its ups and downs, but is truly put to the test when Ryan moves to New York.





	Hot N' Cold

_You're hot, then you're cold_

__You're yes, then you're no_ _

__You're in, then you're out_ _

__You're up, and you're down_ _

 

Ryan cringed slightly when you began to turn up the volume on your car's radio. He glanced at you with deep blue eyes that silently pleaded. You only flashed him a smirk before you refocused your gaze on the road, removing one hand from the steering wheel to roll down the windows.

 

__You're wrong, when it's right_ _

__It's black and it's white_ _

__We fight, we break up_ _

__We kiss, we make up_ _

 

You lifted your voice, singing the song at the top of your lungs. The older lady driving the SUV in the adjacent lane sent you and Ryan a mildly confused, yet overwhelmingly disapproving stare. Ryan embarrassedly slid down low in the passenger seat. You laughed at his reaction and gave him a playful nudge, inviting him to join in.

 

Hesitantly, he glanced back and forth between you and the radio, considering your offer. His lips parted momentarily, allowing the small inhale he used to gather confidence. Suddenly, his jaw clenched firmly.

 

You sent him a sideways glance and noted that this action was his unyielding refusal to sing along. Knowing how proud your boyfriend could be, you continued to nod your head to the beat and rhythmically tap the steering with your hands. You had learned during your year of dating him that you could pry his fun side out if you tried hard enough.

 

__You don't really want to stay, no_ _

__But you don't really want to go, oh_ _

 

Upon arriving at a red stoplight, you took the opportunity to quickly turn and press your lips to Ryan’s. You could feel the heat radiating from his face as you slowly pulled away. He looked over at you, stunned, a few dark curls of hair falling over his forehead. You only grinned at him, daring him to do you one better.

 

He sat there for a few moments, looking at you and around nervously, while you waited for him to return your kiss. Then, he turned back to face the dashboard, jaw still firmly set. You blinked. The stoplight turned green, and the man in the truck behind you hit his horn with an impatient __beeeeeep__. Ryan mumbled something about your needing to keep driving.

 

You turned back to the road and drove onward, your heart twinging with overwhelming disappointment.

 

__We used to be just like twins_ _

__So in sync_ _

__The same energy now's a dead battery_ _

__Used to laugh 'bout nothing_ _

__Now you're plain boring_ _

__I should know that you're not gonna change_ _

 

That had been five months ago, you recalled one cold morning, as you made your way into the Dunder-Mifflin building. Shortly after that time, Ryan had gained a position at corporate. He had left Scranton with the promise to visit as often as he could. As you had leaned upward to give him a goodbye kiss, he had pulled away and walked to his car, driving away to New York.

 

The first few weeks he had been gone, the two of you would IM while at work. He had soon asked you via text to stop instant messaging, as he claimed it looked unprofessional for him to be focusing on anything other than business while in the office. You had reluctantly accepted that and resigned yourself to waiting until after work to be able to text him on your mobile phone. That process had lasted for roughly the same amount of weeks as the instant messaging did, until he had decided that your texting him at any random time was distracting and had asked to stick to scheduled phone calls. You had agreed hesitantly and began to call him a certain amount of time after work.

 

Sometimes he would answer your call, expressing how much he missed you, loved you, thought of you. Other times he wouldn’t answer, and you began to suspect that he was blatantly refusing the phone call. He never visited, so you had no way of knowing what was going on.

 

Finally, that cold afternoon, Ryan showed up in the office, with an idea to radically transform the way the company did business. He barely looked your way the entire time, seemingly concentrated on the PowerPoint presentation he pitched in the conference room. Part of you didn’t mind so much—you had so much confusion and pent-up anger towards him that you didn’t want a thing to do with him. Yet, the other part of you wanted to tackle him to the floor and demand why he had been ignoring you.

 

Five o’clock finally rolled around, and you confronted him out in the parking lot. He turned to you, lifting his eyebrows in surprise as if he had just realized you were around. He reached to wrap his arms around you and press a gentle kiss to your lips, but you pushed him away.

 

__Someone call the doctor_ _

__Got a case of love bipolar_ _

__Stuck on a rollercoaster_ _

__Can't get off this ride_ _

 

He eagerly asked how you had been in his absence. You coldly responded to his question with a question. To know why had he been neglecting your relationship was only fair, in your opinion. Ryan seemed to think otherwise.

 

He started off by rationalizing the situation. He’d had a lot of business to deal with up in New York and stayed busy most of the time with work. It didn’t mean that he hadn’t wanted to talk to you. If he had gotten a chance to do so, he would have taken it, right?

 

You retaliated by reminding him that, the few times he actually did message you, he had referenced going to different places in New York for a party or a meal. Whether that free time was extensive or not, you asserted, it was still plenty opportunity for him to have sent you at least one message.

 

He then defended himself, accusing you of not trusting him or being patient with him. His argument was that you were being selfish and not allowing him to pursue his dream.

 

You furiously lashed back. You didn’t want him to __stop__  pursuing his dream, you just wanted him to __start__  caring about you.

 

He insisted that he truly did care and wanted to be with you. He was giving you yet another lie.

 

You finally choked out the suggestion that the two of you should stop dating. He stared back at you, his usually firm jaw dropping in surprise.

 

You wanted nothing more than to pull him closer and tell him you didn’t mean it. But you couldn’t let him keep turning you on and off like this.

 

__You change your mind_ _

__Like a girl changes clothes_ _

 

Ryan threw his hands up in frustration, spun on his heel, climbed into his expensive convertible, and drove away. If you had thought you wouldn’t ever hear from him before, you knew for certain now that you would never, ever hear from him again.

 

You climbed into your own car and turned up the volume on the radio all the way up, rolling down the windows as far as they could go. You no longer cared if a lady in a SUV gave you a disapproving look or if a man in a truck beeped his horn at you. Hot tears streamed down your cheeks and you would sing as loudly as you could as you drove home.

 

__Hot, then you're cold_ _

__Yes, then you're no_ _

__In, then you’re out_ _

__Up, and you're down_ _

 

**Author's Note:**

> Song is by Katy Perry. Thought it fit a description of a relationship with Ryan all too well.


End file.
